A bell hangs from a pole along the shoulder of Highway 37 in Novato, Calif. on Friday, Nov. 16, 2012. The bell is one of several which have recently been installed along highways 37 and 101 in Novato and San Rafael. (IJ photo/Alan Dep)

MISSION BELLS have appeared along Highways 101 and 37 in Marin to help mark the original route between San Diego and Sonoma that connected California's 21 missions, including San Rafael Arcangel.

"They are part of a the statewide mission bell replacement program," said Bob Haus, Caltrans spokesman. "These are the last ones going in north of the Golden Gate Bridge."

The mission bell markers consist of an 18-inch diameter cast metal bell set atop a 3-inch diameter pipe column that is attached to a concrete foundation using anchor rods.

The bells are intended to mark the original route of the 700-mile-long El Camino Real linking the missions founded by Father Junipero Serra.

The missions were spaced to mark one day's journey by horse.

Last week, 30 bells went up along Highways 101 and 37 in Marin and Highways 121 and 12 in Sonoma.

While the local bells are new, the idea is not.

The bell program first began more than a century ago by the El Camino Real Association in 1906.

Originally there were about 450 bells along El Camino Real, but because of theft and vandalism the number dwindled to about 75 by the 1960s as El Camino Real gave way to highways, primarily Routes 101 and 82.

In response, the Legislature appointed Caltrans as guardian of the bells in 1974, responsible for repairing or replacing them.

Caltrans' Landscape Architecture Program received a federal Transportation Enhancement Activities grant in 2000 for $1.4 million to restore the Mission Bell Marker system for the fabrication and installation of 555 mission bell markers.

The new bells are exact copies of the 1906 originals. The original bell molds were used to fabricate the new versions.

One of the originals is outside the San Rafael Arcangel, the 20th mission built. The Marin mission was established as a sanitarium and hospital for depression and disease. Within five years it was raised to full mission status and dedicated to the patron saint of health in 1817.

The small church with star windows was torn down in 1870 to be used for firewood. Today a chapel at the site — 1104 Fifth Ave. — duplicates most of the original mission church.

The 21st mission — San Francisco Solano — was built up the road in the town of Sonoma.

"It's great to hear about these new mission bells," said Theresa Brunner, mission museum curator for San Rafael Arcangel. "We like it when people come and learn about the mission."